A dog is a dog, no matter what their size, and they ALL need training. The important thing to remember is that training your dog not to jump on people is NOT just for the benefit of the dog jumping on people. It’s about you, your family and other people around you too. It’s about responsible dog ownership. It is about dog training tips that can help you with training your dog not to jump on people.
As a dog trainer, I have seen many breeds of dog that jumping on humans. Even small dogs like Chihuahuas and Maltese often jump up on people, particularly children. Excessive jumping can be an indicator of some underlying behavioral problems and issues. If you train your dog not to jump on people, you will probably see fewer issues with your dog in the future. Training your dog not to jump on people, will also keep your new dog safe from injury.
The most important aspect of training your dog not to jump on people is positive reinforcement. Positive reinforcement basically means giving a treat or reward to a dog that does something you like. For example, if your dog gets down on the floor after he has been playing with his master, and you give him a treat as a reward, he will not hesitate to do the same thing again. He learned that whenever you reward him with a treat, he must sit or lie down, and that whenever you punish him by putting him in his crate, he learns that whenever he jumps up on people, he gets a scare from being scolded.
Another way of training your dog not to jump on people is to teach him to learn to greet people in a friendly manner. It can be difficult to train a dog not to jump on guests but it is possible. In order for this to work, you must be able to build a bond with your helper before ever training your dog not to jump on guests. First, greet the guest with a firm “Hello, what is your name?” and then with a quick smile on your face as he introduces himself. The key here is to make sure your greetings are friendly, short, and to the point.
To make the process easier, give your dog treats when he performs any obedience task. Make sure to always reward him with his favorite treat, not with a single treat when he does an action correctly. A good time to use treats for training your dog not to jump on guests would be when he brings you the toy he made while playing with you. Treating him with the toy immediately following an obedient performance of his behavior is highly effective, and it reinforces the fact that he can be expected to behave in the future. If you don’t have any treats to give him, simply wait for him to bring you something after you ask him to do something nice for you.
After having worked with your dog for a while using these methods, it will become much easier to spot the moment he exhibits unwanted behavior. One of the things you should look out for is excitement. If your dog gets excited because someone is talking to him or he is given a treat, immediately stop the person and try to calm down the excited dog. It may take a bit of patience but you should be able to control him until he calms down. If you catch him in the act of jumping on someone, keep talking to him in a comforting way until he calms down. By training your dog not to jump on guests in this manner, you will make it much easier to stop him from doing so.
Another good method of training your dog not to jump on people is to kneel down next to them and pet them while they are sitting or lying down. I recommend that you kneel down and then say “NO” in a firm voice while extending your hand in a palm upward position. This should prevent the dogs from jumping when the person sits or lies down. You can also do the same thing with your knees and say “NO” while petting them.
The last method that you can use to stop your dog from jumping is to ignore him. I recommend that you avoid any disciplinary action that your dog might try to do, and replace the jumping behaviors with pleasant behaviors. You can do this by only rewarding the positive behaviors and ignoring the negative ones. This will quickly correct any behavior problems that your dog may have and will teach your dog to trust you more. With consistent training by you and your dog trainer, you can save yourself a lot of heartache from having a dog that jumping all over guests and family members when they arrive at your house.
